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The Salvation of Alex Warin and Special Giveaway

First of all, please head over to author Jill Archer’s blog today. She has a fun feature called “Five Photographs,” so I was able to submit five photographs that represent different things about me, plus answer a fun Q&A. Leave a comment and say hello, and be sure to enter the Rafflecopter for entry into the tour giveaways.

This isn’t part of the current tour, but Bambi Unbridled has been re-reading the series and has a review of Elysian Fields up today!

Now, back to Pirate’s Alley.

Behind the scenes? Alex was a real jerk in the initial draft of this book. He was such a jerk, in fact, that I ended up absolutely hating him. One beta reader said he couldn’t be saved. Two beta readers begged me to change it. My editor just shook her head.

I did a big revision, and am much, much, much happier with the way it turned out.

In my own defense, I’ll admit I was channeling some day-job aggression as I wrote this book, and I think for a while Alex became my now-former boss. You know, overbearing and unpredictable and not always honest and somewhat dangerous.

He had some harsh dialogue. Case in point—Alex has just relayed an order from the Elders to DJ, and she’s refusing to follow it:

Alex raised his voice to match mine. “Get your head out of the clouds and face reality. That kid could change everything. What if the fae get their hands on Eugenie and use that baby as a bargaining tool? Or the vampires or the f**ing other elves, for that matter? Are your high ideals worth setting off a war?” He dropped his voice, low and lethal. “Grow up and do the right thing, DJ.”

Don’t you just want to slap him? Yeah, me too. Thankfully, that whole scene got rewritten. This book had very few revisions as a whole, but I did save Alex from letting me turn him into a jackass. (He skates pretty close to it without my help—LOL.) So we can all still love him, and so can DJ.

SPECIAL GIVEAWAY!
I have a beautiful set of handmade ceramic coasters made by the New Orleans-area artist who did my newsletter giveaway this month. (Remember to sign up by clicking on the Newsletter tab above if you aren’t on the mailing list.) Just leave a comment to enter; open internationally, of course!

31 thoughts on “The Salvation of Alex Warin and Special Giveaway”

I am glad you were able to soften Alex a little. I’m still not sure DJ and Alex can make it long term as a couple. DJ deserves someone special and as much as I love Jean, he is not the right man either.

I think Alex and DJ are so very different in how they approach life. As DJ grows emotionally stronger with each book, she is realizing that she shouldn’t have to change who she is in order to hang onto him. So I think the question is, can Alex accept who she is and let her be herself. If PIRATE’S ALLEY is DJ’s drawing of the line in the sand, BELLE CHASSE will be where Alex has to finally get off the fence, one way or another.

In my own defense, I’ll admit I was channeling some day-job aggression as I wrote this book, and I think for a while Alex became my now-former boss. You know, overbearing and unpredictable and not always honest and somewhat dangerous.

Alex got softenen up…let’s just say he is really bad by himself then^^ but yes time will tell after all a war change everyone in a sense or another ^^;;( i still want to strangle RAnd more than Alex but he is close second)

Handmade ceramic coasters… me so want them, need them, especially New Orleans-styled 😉 When revising, we tend to reanalyze things, right? I can see how I used a lot of stuff from my real life in the book I am writing hahaha

Hi Suzanne! First off, congrats on the new release! Secondly, thanks for not making Alex too much of an ass because I really do like him and would prefer not to hate him. Thirdly, I love those coasters and I must have them **LOL**!!! Thanks for the giveaway.

I think their psychology plays to each other’s weaknesses in some ways. Hm….I think I see a blog post coming. Maybe really going into the psychological makeup of these characters. For better or worse, they’re like real people to me now 🙂 (Don’t call the men in little white coats!)

I’m not sure how to comment on this book. I had a similar confrontation with my boss which went south. I ended up going to HR to get the “hostile environment” I’m working in fixed. The only thing I can say, I have documented every incidents that happened between her and me.

Ah, I don’t mean to make light of a really serious HR situation–which it sounds like you’re in. I just had a person who was bad to work for (I wasn’t singled out at all). Employees have to protect themselves, and documenting everything is key. I wish you the best in your situation!

Oh my…I am REALLY GLAD that Alex got softened up because he would have been completely irredeemable in my eyes if that scene had been left unchanged. The way you changed it, I can understand where he’s coming from and why he’s having the conflict that he is. But damn…he and DJ would NOT have been able to stay together if the first draft hadn’t changed and that scene had stayed intact! I’m glad I don’t have to hate Alex 🙂